There's some sort of quota on the number of events she can play given her age, but she says she will start playing proper tournaments at the end of this year. Also the winners of the Juniors get a WC to the Main Draw next year, so she could possibly be playing Wimbledon at 15.

That would be cool. I knew about the quota, but it's like 4 WTA events, and I'm not sure how many ITF events, she could have been playing Futures this whole time... Maybe she didn't think it was worth the practice... Did you read an interview somewhere? Could you link me?

Aaaaagh! Just discovered she's bloody Australian. Moved here when she was six. Parents, cousins all Aussies. They've even competed for Oz at kayaking and the like. There's a feature on her in the Daily Mail today.

Aaaaagh! Just discovered she's bloody Australian. Moved here when she was six. Parents, cousins all Aussies. They've even competed for Oz at kayaking and the like. There's a feature on her in the Daily Mail today.

Sort of irrelevant. She developed as a tennis player here, not in Australia. Does she consider herself English (or British) or Australian?

Well she doesn't have an Aussie accent, so at least she sounds English. I think the quota is to prevent burnout of the younger players who join the tour to early. It's not necessary for the men's game as it is more about power so 14 year olds are less likely to succeed.

And her father is British. Parentage counts for more than place of birth.

She was born in Australia while her father was working there. She has spent more time in Britain and her game developed in Britain. Plus, she considers herself British (English, most likely). So yeah, Britain has a far bigger claim to her, even if she was neutral on her nationality.

Ha-ha! Just checked that Mail link. They've rewritten the article from earlier in the day to take out much of the Aussie stuff. The only bit remaining is 'her Australian parents'. The earlier version was full of it. Born in Melbourne, moved to Singapore, then to Britain at 6, cousin has represented Australia at kayaking.

Ha-ha! Just checked that Mail link. They've rewritten the article from earlier in the day to take out much of the Aussie stuff. The only bit remaining is 'her Australian parents'. The earlier version was full of it. Born in Melbourne, moved to Singapore, then to Britain at 6, cousin has represented Australia at kayaking.